Subject: Tourny Report Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 20:06:40 -0800 From: shebner@mail1.erinet.com (Sue Hebner) To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com There was a strange something in the air. An undefinable pull from beyond the forests of my home. It had been so long since I had last felt the gathering that I had almost forgotten the feeling. I knew vagely that many of other planes walkers had been out exploring a new plane. My meditations on the cycles of nature had kept me from visiting the new plane. Undaunted, I pulled the fabric of reality apart and stepped through. The Shard Fallow Earth 4 Winter's Garsp 4 Creeping Mold 4 Desert Twister 4 Wild Growth 4 Llanowar Elf 4 Lotus Petal 3 Nature's Lore 3 Gaea's Blessing 2 Recycle 2 Mirri's Guile 3 Llanowar Sentinal4 Barbed Foliage 2 Wooden Sphere 1 Dingus Egg 1 Forest 15 Sideboard Roots of Life 1 Iron Star 3 Scragnoth 3 Barbed Foliage 1 Lifeforce 2 Needlestorm 3 Choke 2 Things that will most likely change in the next version: The Sentinals will stay in. I had doubts about these guys, but now I won't play w/o them. I will replace the Barbed Foliage in the main deck with something capable of killing something/2 creatures. The Lotus petals will most likely be removed, and probibly replaced w/ some sort of library manipulation (Jalum Tome(yes the discard ones)). Surprisingly I lost worse to a 5CNecro deck than to a Mono-Green deck like I had anticipated. The Roots of life in the sideboard will probibly become a Barbed Folaiage, the Scragnoths may become River Boas or something else. My biggest problem was that I didn't think much about Stronghold before I came to the tourney, if I had, I would have both played and sideboarded differently. I now know to think about Mox Diamonds and Mulches, though I don't expect them to be a problem. Round 1: Tony Cox (Mono Blue Capsize/Mind Games/Tradewind-ish deck) 1- The game started good, a solid hand and the rest of the deck played out well. Tony either drew poorly or couldn't cast effectively. He hovers around 3 mana. Llanowar Sentinals end up finishing him. 2- I sideboard in two Chokes and only two Needlestorms, I'm not too worried about him getting up enough mana to do anything. The only land destruction I saw in this game was 3 Fallow Earths. Tony is having some land problems. He draw it, but not in the large amounts that he would like. It came down to the fact that he had 3 Ophidians, and I had 3 Llanowar Sentinals and 2 Llanowar elves. If had blocked the elves early one he would have probibly won that game. Unfortunatly this fact wasn't apparent untill it was too late. 3- Tony ends up drawing less that 3 lands normally. Between LD and that I win. So Far:3-0 Round 2: Tim Kaiser (Big Green w/ Mulch+Gaea's Blessing) 1- Tim drops a Fallow Wurm as I flounder. My opening hand was: Forest, Llanowar Elf x3, Wild Groth x2 and a Fallow Earth; not good. The Wurm is a small surprise, difficult to kill as well. Then he mulches, a very bad thing for me. Eventually he uses a disk to clear the board, after which I drop a Recycle. The next turn he Creeping molds it, and comes back. If he hadn't destoryed the Recycle he would have lost w/in the next three turns. 2- I side in a Barbed Foliage. For the first time in my life I fail to have enough mana w/ my deck to Desert Twister. I die w/ a Desert Twister and Recycle in my hand and only 3 lands in play, no Wild Growths or LLanwar Elves (they got disked earlier). If I could have cast them I would have held him off long enough to win. 3- My deck functions a peak effeciancy, and a Wooden Sphere nets me a total of 25 life (let's see a single Natural Spring do that). It comes down to me Desert Twistering twice every turn. He concieded the game when I drew a Gaea's Blessing as the second to last card out while I had a Recycle in play. I point out that if I hadn't draw the Gaea's Blessing I would have just Creeping Molded my own Recycle, netting me the Gaea's Blessing and casting it the same turn. So Far: 4-2 Round 3:Chad Drager (5CNecro) I loved playing w/ Chad, it was like a friendly game of magic, you know, the kind you play and it's fun? 1- Chad's deck matches mine for mana production, and kills me w/ Victual Sliver and Bottle Gnome before I can slow him down enough. A Mox Diamond that lead to the Sliver first turn did me in. 2- I won the second game. I sided in 2 Lifeforces, but didn't use them. Other wise my deck just worked as it is supposed to. 3- It was almost a fight, but he won. It was at this point, between no LD and a Barbed Folaige that I realized that Barbed Folaige just isn't going to cut it in today's envoirnemt. So Far: 5-4 Round 4:Chris Roads (U/r Counter/Blue flyer/burn) 1- I dew a single LD spell (Winter Grasp) and was killed by an Air Elemental. 2- I sideboarded in two Chokes and three Needlestorms, though after words I realized that I probibly didn't need the Needlestorms. My deck worked slow but efficantly and force a win by recycling Desert Twisters and a Sentinals. 3- I made a msitake in not sideboarding one of the Needlestorms back out, though in the long run it didn't hurt me. I destroy land and drop all 4 Llanowar Sentinals into play in one turn. That same turn I tap out to finish w/ a Choke against his two islands hoping to draw out a counter spell. He lets it through then Sleight of Minds it to Forests. We play on, and just after he wins and is de-sideboarding, I actually see the Slieght of Mind and point out that he couldn't Slieght my Choke. We don't go back, but decide that it is my win because he couldn't have beaten me w/ what I had on the table at the time (not to mention that we both knew what we would be drawing for the next 7 turns. Total: 7-5 I was more than happy to return from the chaos of the gathering to my quiet clearing. Long meditations would be nessicary. The duels of the past four days had taught me the need to consider all, to think of every possability and then twist it and look at it anew. The most startaling revelation was given by the Necromancer Chad, and not my fellow Ranger Kaiser. I settled down to long hours contemplation, acompanied only by the whispering of the wind through the leaves. Next time, and there will be a next time, I will not walk unprepaired amoung my peers again.